I recently received this email:
Alesia
Allow me to first introduce myself properly and perhaps then I can go into why I have contacted you. My name is Kelly and almost 22 years ago, also at the age of 7, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia. I finished my treatment in 1994 and have been cancer free ever since, with no long term side effects; naturally I count myself extremely lucky as many children I became friends with did not have similar outcomes.
I’m now a mother of 2 and I’m 29 in December this year. Like you, I saw my Cancer as a mechanism to make me stronger and have more empathy towards others – my passion to ‘give something’ took me down the road of Education and after studying hard, I became an English teacher. I have however, given this up to stay at home to watch my daughters grow up and to write my novel.
I felt immediately that I needed to contact you – the website, showing how actively you support others, is truly inspiring and I only dream of being able to make as much of a difference in the UK to the lives of others as you are. I am currently writing the novel, but planning has taken a long time as many repressed memories continue to resurface, making me backtrack and rethink the structure; many times, memories are muddled and it has taken months to finally match them to the timeline in terms of where in my treatment plan the events took place (which I’m sure you’ll understand!)
I’m hoping that the story will attract a lot of interest, removing prejudices, stereotypes and ignorance about the journey that young people encounter not only when they are diagnosed and being treated, but in their lives beyond being ‘cured’. I’m also hoping that the book is successful enough to give me the opportunity to make a large donation to the hospital where I was treated; I have raised £10,000 personally through a variety of fundraising events, but want to give back as much as I can to help others.
I wanted to send you my love and my hope that the future brings you good health and happiness.
After reading about you, I wondered if Cancer does this to many of us, as I completely empathize with and relate to your outlook on life!
With kind regards,
Kelly R.
|
I wanted to share with you all my response, as I think it can hit home for many.
Kelly,
I am extremely touched that you contacted me and give you a high five for your efforts to write. Like you I did not keep a diary and had to rehash a lot of things that I surpressed and just forgot, but finally came to terms with my past and plowed forward to my future. I did work with a company to help me and coach me to remember everything and if you can afford them I highly recommend them. They have helped so many of us write our stories so we can share and donate to our causes. Look them up if you like. (Round Table Companies).
With that said, I do hope you read my book so that you may be able to find help in not only writing, but remembering things that may be important to the story. I would love to see the finished product and hope it is something that will definitely come to life. Please keep in touch when you can and I do look forward to hearing from you.
Good luck and remember – for me writing became therapeutic and helped me come to terms with my past, making me stronger in helping others.
I do hope that Kelly is able to finish her masterpiece someday soon!
|
